Draft of fracking rules irks environmental groups

Friday

Nov 11, 2011 at 2:00 AMNov 30, 2011 at 1:56 PM

PORT JERVIS — As Port Jervis moves ahead with planning a whitewater park, the Delaware River Basin Commission has issued a draft of gas drilling regulations that would allow drilling to resume in the Delaware watershed, water source for 15 million people, if approved by the DRBC Nov. 21.

Jessica Cohen

PORT JERVIS — As Port Jervis moves ahead with planning a whitewater park, the Delaware River Basin Commission has issued a draft of gas drilling regulations that would allow drilling to resume in the Delaware watershed, water source for 15 million people, if approved by the DRBC Nov. 21.

Environmental groups are infuriated. After 69,800 people contributed comments on the previous regulations draft, many requesting studies to gauge the impact of drilling to guide regulation, those comments appear to have had little influence, according to Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

Clarke Rupert, spokesman for the DRBC, had said that the many comments provided on the previous draft would be considered.

Online, groups of comments making similar points would be addressed together, he said.

He noted that many of the comments requested that studies be done, but reading through the hundred-page document, Carluccio said the new draft does not require the suggested studies and allows for "flowback" of fracking wastewater that contains highly toxic chemicals, which come from deep underground as well as from fracking fluid.

Also, she said, the regulations make no spacing requirement for wells. The industry is in charge of density. She noted that a preliminary study of well density by the Academy of Natural Sciences warned that populous wells can diminish fish life and stream water quality.

As for the number of wells on a pad, she said, "New York is in flux, but in Pennsylvania it's a free-for-all. It's not protective."

Numerous other issues concern her. She said the regulations fail to address wastewater in the river and how much water can be removed for the fracking process, though water levels have significant effects on the ecosystem.

Also, she asked, "how many wells can you put on the landscape without preventing absorption of healthy rainfall? No studies have been done. They're moving blindly. They require information to be submitted, but there are no teeth to the regulations."

According to the new draft, drilling regulations are made by each state, so even though New York may have more stringent regulations, the Delaware River is still subject to the effects of Pennsylvania rules, which Carluccio said are more lax.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network and other environmental groups are now poised to file suit against the DRBC if the commission approves the regulations, which the environmentalists contend would violate the National Environmental Policy Act, requiring that "exceptional waters not be degraded," Carluccio said.

Meanwhile, online environmentalists have been busy with "virtual marches," letter-writing campaigns, and petitions, furious that the DRBC has allowed for no public comment on this regulations draft.